Columbia SC Real Estate Blog

I marvel at the Internet and the information it can provide. The data it can offer to the prospective homebuyer, especially looking for Columbia Flat Fee MLS Listings is huge by any one’s estimate. This article will address how your fingertips can give you much of the information you need to hone in on your dream home. So, lets begin the search and then narrow down the variables that are important to us.

Obviously, location is the first variable. You can search by city and zip code on many National sites such as Realtor.com, Zillow, and Trulia. If you go to a local Company site in the city you are looking at, most have a public access to all of the local companies in the areas listing. Click search MLS and you shall see. Some require you to register and you will get contacted by an agent if you are truthful about your identifying information.  You can often search by subdivision if you are familiar with the area. Next you want to search by price. Get qualified by a lender rather then searching homes out of your price range is the best way to go about this process. You can then search bedrooms, bathrooms, garages, square feet, lot size and a host of other variables. You can view slide shows, and virtual tours to really see what the house looks like.

Now if you want to pinpoint the location, go to Google and do an aerial search or a map search to see what is around the house. If you want to know the taxes on the house it may be in the local MLS or can be found in the county tax records on line. School information is extremely important and can be gotten from county records. You can find out #’s of students, %age that graduate High School, that go to college, and other data such as # of  teachers w/master’s degrees, and #’s that are on public lunch programs. Information is available about average family income for areas of town. If you want to know proximity to hospitals and other public venues search Google under the term you are interested in. Ex. Lexington SC hospitals.  We also suggest finding a Columbia SC Discount Realtor who can save you plenty of money offering Columbia Home Buyer Rebates.

Get agents to e-mail you listings with additional  information like days on the market of the houses you are searching and price changes as well as agents remarks. Knowledge on the Internet gives you power never before available to the consumer at your fingertips.

Broker Bob Mandel, Real Estate Advocates Network

Our Principles Come Before Our Profits

The quality of your Columbia SC Real Estate Agent is a function not of how much they talk, but what they say.  Some agents are trained not to talk much when representing buyers, or to weigh their talk carefully so as not to say anything that might dissuade a potential buyer from buying or a seller from listing. You must be careful of those sales people, as they are just that, sales people. They are more full of rhetoric then relevant fact sharing that might make you a more informed decision maker. The more you can be your own advocate the better. You need to arm yourself with as much information as you can about agents and the House selling and buying process. That means searching for relevant information regarding neighborhoods, houses, cities, and agents. If the agent doesn’t give you any negatives about your selection process or caveats, be careful. If they are cavalier or cautious when you ask questions, get yourself another agent. This agent is out to make a sale and not looking out for you.

Here are some sample questions to ask an agent about their background before engaging them. How long have you live in the area? What areas do you work? How many sales have you been involved in the past 3 years? What is the average price home you sell, and the price ranges you work with? Ask for documentation. How long have you had your license? Are you part-time or full-time? Do you work as a team with other agents? Are you a Broker? Do you have kids in school or had kids in public school here? Do you show all agents listings from other companies? What are your normal working hours and days?

Regarding selection of a Columbia Real Estate listing agent, you need to ask specific questions about the market. What are the average days on the market? Are prices holding steady, declining, or rising. What is their marketing experience in your neighborhood? Ask them how they are different from their competition. Make sure you get their withdrawal policy if you chose to withdraw in writing. Do they negotiate on their commissions if they get the buyer, or if you do? Make sure you know what they are paying cooperating agents.

For buying agents, similar questions about backgrounds are appropriate. When showing houses ask them what negatives they see. Some examples would be exterior of the house, driveways, size of garages, landscaping, lot size and shape, style, size of rooms and layout, energy efficiency, taxes, insurance, utilities, age of systems, condition of the home, recommendations for inspections and warranties, neighborhood and area negatives. They will tell you the positives, so you may have to ask for the negatives. Information is power if you use it carefully in your decision-making.